Driving notification system and method

ABSTRACT

Implementations described and claimed herein address the foregoing by providing systems and methods for driving notification. In one implementation, a method may include the operations of receiving an indication of a speed of a trailer, determining whether a parameter associated with the speed of the trailer meets a threshold, and activating a notification device based on the determination.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems andmethods for driving notification, and more specifically, for activatingnotification indicating a speed event associated with a trailer.

2. Discussion of Related Art

A trailer is an unpowered vehicle towed by a powered vehicle. It iscommonly used for the transport of goods and materials. The trailer mayinclude various goods which may be transported via the powered vehicle.The trailer may travel on highways where other vehicles are traveling athigh speeds. Depending on the size and weight of the trailer, thepowered vehicle towing the trailer may have to travel at speeds lowerthan other vehicles, which may present a danger of an accident if othervehicles are not aware of the trailer moving at a relatively low speed.

SUMMARY

Implementations described and claimed herein address the foregoing byproviding systems and methods for driving notification. In oneimplementation, a method may include the operations of receiving anindication of a speed of a trailer, determining whether a parameterassociated with the speed of the trailer meets a threshold, andactivating a notification device based on the determination.

In another implementation, an apparatus for driving notification mayinclude a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. Theat least one processor may be configured to receive an indication of aspeed of a trailer, determine whether a parameter associated with thespeed of the trailer meets a threshold, and activate a notificationdevice based on the determination.

In another implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving instructions, which when executed by at least one processor,causes the at least one processor to receive an indication of a speed ofa trailer, determine whether a parameter associated with the speed ofthe trailer meets a threshold, and activate a notification device basedon the determination.

Other implementations are also described and recited herein. Further,while multiple implementations are disclosed, still otherimplementations of the presently disclosed technology will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which shows and describes illustrative implementations ofthe presently disclosed technology. As will be realized, the presentlydisclosed technology is capable of modifications in various aspects, allwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the presently disclosedtechnology. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to beregarded as illustrative in nature and not limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing device, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for drivernotification, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a monitoring system implemented on a trailer, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for drivingnotification, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art after review of theentirety disclosed that the steps illustrated in the figures listedabove may be performed in other than the recited order, and that one ormore steps illustrated in these figures may be optional.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to methods andsystems for driver notification based on trailer speed. A trailer mayinclude a wheel speed sensor that may generate a signal indicating thetrailer's speed. In some cases, the wheel speed sensor may be installedfor breaking operations, such as anti-lock breaks (ABS). In certainaspects of the present disclosure, the signal from the wheel speedsensor may be provided to a monitoring system that may control one ormore notification elements (e.g., collectively referred to as anotification device). For example, the notification device may includeone or more lights, alarms, wireless signal notification element, wiredsignal notification element, or any combination thereof. The monitoringsystem may track the trailer's speed via the signal from the wheel speedsensor and activate the notification device accordingly. For instance,if the monitoring system detects that the trailer's speed has reduced(e.g., on a highway) to be below a speed threshold (e.g., 30 MPH), thetrailer may activate a notification device, such as a light behind thetrailer, to give notice to vehicles that the trailer is traveling at arelatively low speed.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing device 100, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure. The computing device 100 caninclude a processor 103 for controlling overall operation of thecomputing device 100 and its associated components, includinginput/output (I/O) device 109, communication interface 111, and/ormemory 115 (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable medium). A data buscan interconnect processor(s) 103, memory 115, I/O device 109, and/orcommunication interface 111.

I/O device 109 can include a microphone, keypad, touch screen, and/orstylus through which a user of the computing device 100 can provideinput and can also include one or more of a speaker for providing audiooutput and a video display device for providing textual, audiovisual,and/or graphical output. Software can be stored within memory 115 toprovide instructions to processor 103 allowing computing device 100 toperform various actions. For example, memory 115 can store software usedby the computing device 100, such as an operating system 117,application programs 119, and/or an associated internal database 121.The various hardware memory units in memory 115 can include volatile andnonvolatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information such ascomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data.

Memory 115 can include one or more physical persistent memory devicesand/or one or more non-persistent memory devices. Memory 115 caninclude, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), electronically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium that can be used to store the desired informationand that can be accessed by processor 103.

Communication interface 111 can include one or more transceivers,digital signal processors, and/or additional circuitry and software forcommunicating via any network, wired or wireless, using any protocol asdescribed herein. Processor 103 can include a single central processingunit (CPU), which can be a single-core or multi-core processor (e.g.,dual-core, quad-core, etc.), or can include multiple CPUs. Processor(s)103 and associated components can allow the computing device 100 toexecute a series of computer-readable instructions to perform some orall of the processes described herein. Although not shown in FIG. 1 ,various elements within memory 115 or other components in computingdevice 100, can include one or more caches, for example, CPU caches usedby the processor 103, page caches used by the operating system 117, diskcaches of a hard drive, and/or database caches used to cache contentfrom database 121. For implementations including a CPU cache, the CPUcache can be used by one or more processors 103 to reduce memory latencyand access time. A processor 103 can retrieve data from or write data tothe CPU cache rather than reading/writing to memory 115, which canimprove the speed of these operations. In some examples, a databasecache can be created in which certain data from a database 121 is cachedin a separate smaller database in a memory separate from the database,such as in RAM or on a separate computing device. For instance, in amulti-tiered application, a database cache on an application server canreduce data retrieval and data manipulation time by not needing tocommunicate over a network with a back-end database server. These typesof caches and others can be included in various implementations and canprovide potential advantages in certain implementations of softwaredeployment systems, such as faster response times and less dependence onnetwork conditions when transmitting and receiving data.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide a monitoring system forinterpreting signals from an installed wheel speed sensor and executingthe control of a notification device such as lights or alarms based oncalculated wheel speeds. In some aspects, the monitoring system may tieinto an existing connection between a trailer's wheel speed sensor andABS module, allowing for monitoring of the wheel speed based on analternating signal being read from the wheel speed sensor. For example,the frequency of the alternating signal may correspond to the wheelspeed. Based on the wheel speed, the monitoring system may executevarious control actions based on previously determined speed triggerpoints, such as whether a particular speed has been reached, whether thespeed has dropped to a speed threshold, speed rolls, or whether there isa full stop. For example, the monitoring system may activate a strobelight which may be coupled to the rear of the trailer if the trailer'sspeed is above 3 miles per hour (MPH) and below 30 MPH.

In some aspects, processor 103 may include circuit 120 for speeddetection. For example, circuit 120 may detect a speed of a trailerbased on input from sensor 107 (e.g., a wheel speed sensor). Theprocessors 103 may also include circuit 122 for processing. For example,circuit 122 may detect whether to activate a notification device basedon a parameter associated with the trailer's speed. For instance, asdescribed, the notification device may be activated if the trailer'sspeed drops below 30 MPH.

In some cases, the processors 103 may include a circuit 124 fornotification. The circuit 124 may control a notification device 180,such as a lamp, light-emitting diode (LED), speaker, wireless or wiredcommunication element, or any suitable means of providing notificationto other drivers. The memory 115 may store code that performs theoperations described herein when executed by the processor 103. Forexample, memory 115 may include code 130 for speed detection, code 132for processing, and code 134 for controlling a notification device. Insome aspects, the computing device 100 may be coupled to one or moreother sensors (e.g., accelerometer or global positioning system (GPS)),which may be used to receive sensor data for determining whether toactivate the notification device 180.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 200 for drivernotification, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. A wheel speed sensor 202 may provide wheel speed sensor datato a monitoring system 206. As described, the wheel speed sensor datamay also be provided to an ABS device 204 for breaking operations. Inother words, the wheel speed sensor may be an installed sensor for ABS,which may also be used for speed monitoring and driver notification peraspects of the present disclosure. The monitoring system 206 may includethe computing device 100 described with respect to FIG. 1 .

The monitoring system 206 may determine a parameter associated with thetrailer's speed and control the notification device 208 accordingly. Theparameter associated with the trailer's speed may be the speed of thetrailer itself, or other parameters such as acceleration ordeceleration. For example, the monitoring system may determine whetherthe trailer's speed has dropped below an upper-speed threshold (e.g., 30MPH), and activate the notification device 208 accordingly. In somecases, the monitoring system 206 may determine that the speed is betweenthe upper-speed threshold and a lower speed threshold (e.g., 3 MPH)before activating the notification device 208.

In some aspects, the monitoring system 206 may be enabled (or disabled)by a user device 250 (e.g., a device of a driver of a vehicle towing thetrailer). For example, the user device 250 may provide an enable signalto the monitoring system 206, enabling the monitoring system to begintracking the trailer's speed and activate the notification device 208.In other cases, the monitoring system 206 may be enabled automaticallydepending on the operating condition of the trailer. For example, themonitoring system 206 may be automatically enabled when the trailer ison a highway. The monitoring system 206 may determine the operatingcondition of the trailer in any suitable manner. For example, themonitoring system 206 may determine that the trailer is traveling on ahighway based on input from a GPS or by identifying that the trailer hastraveled at high speeds for a certain period.

In some cases, the notification device 208 may be activated if adeceleration of the trailer that is above a threshold is detected. Inother words, if a sudden drop in speed is detected, this may be a signthat the trailer (or vehicle towing the trailer) has had an impact withan object. In response, the notification device 208 may be activated.

In some cases, the notification device 208 may be activated if it isdetected that the trailer has made a full stop (e.g., the speed of thetrailer is zero). In some aspects, the monitoring system may activatethe notification device 208 if the speed of the trailer is above a speedthreshold (e.g., 70 MPH).

In some aspects, the monitoring system may detect that the trailer isbeginning to roll from a stopped position and activate the notificationdevice 208 accordingly. For example, the monitoring system maydetermine, via sensor data from a sensor 210, that the trailer is on aninclined road. Based on determining that the trailer is beginning toroll and determining that the trailer is on the inclined road, themonitoring system 206 may activate the notification device 208.

In some implementations, the notification device 208 may includedifferent notification elements, such as lights of different colors,light patterns, sounds, or wireless and/or wired notifications. Thedifferent notification elements may be activated based on an associatedactivation event. For example, the trailer making a full stop may resultin a first activation element being activated. The trailer having aspeed between 3 MPH and 30 MPH may result in a second differentactivation element being activated. As another example, if themonitoring system 206 detects that the trailer is beginning to roll onan incline, the notification device may send a notification to acomputing device of a user (e.g., owner of the trailer or vehicle towingthe trailer).

FIG. 3 illustrates a monitoring system implemented on a trailer 320, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, atblock 302, the wheel speed sensor 202 may generate a signal indicatingthe vehicle's speed, which may be provided to the monitoring system 206.The wheel speed sensor 202 may be installed behind a brake rotor of thewheel of trailer 320.

As shown, the monitoring system 206 may be installed anywhere on thetrailer, such as below the harness of the trailer. At block 304, themonitoring system 206 may process the speed. For example, the monitoringsystem 206 may determine whether the trailer's speed is between 3 MPHand 30 MPH, as described herein. At block 306, the monitoring system 206may generate a control signal, which may be used, at block 308, toactivate a notification device (e.g., notification element 350 and/ornotification element 352).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 400 for drivingnotification, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. Operations 400 may be performed, for example, by amonitoring system (e.g., monitoring system 206), such as the processor103, and in some aspects, the memory 115. In some cases, operations 400may further be performed by a notification device (e.g., notificationdevice 180) and/or one or more sensors, such as sensor 107.

At block 402, the monitoring system may receive an indication of a speedof the trailer. In some aspects, the indication of the speed of thetrailer may be received from one or more speed sensors (e.g., sensor 107of FIG. 1 or sensor 202 of FIG. 2 ). The one or more speed sensors maydetect the speed of the trailer based on a rotation of one or morewheels. The one or more wheels may include one or more wheels of thetrailer.

At block 404, the monitoring system may determine whether a parameterassociated with the speed of the trailer meets a threshold. In someaspects, determining whether the parameter meets the threshold mayinclude determining whether the speed is below an upper-speed threshold.In some cases, determining whether the parameter meets the threshold mayinclude determining whether the speed is below the upper-speed thresholdand above a lower speed threshold. In some cases, the parameterassociated with the speed is a deceleration parameter. In some aspects,determining whether the parameter meets the threshold includesdetermining whether the trailer has made a full stop (e.g., meets athreshold of zero MPH). In some aspects, determining whether theparameter meets the threshold may include determining whether the speedis above a speed threshold.

At block 406, the monitoring system may activate a notification devicebased on the determination. In some aspects, determining whether theparameter meets the threshold may include determining that the traileris beginning to roll from a stopped position. For example, themonitoring system may determine, via sensor data, that the trailer is onan inclined road. The notification device may be activated based on thedetermination that the trailer is beginning to roll and thedetermination that the trailer is on the inclined road.

Implementations of the present disclosure include various steps, whichare described in this specification. The steps may be performed byhardware components or may be embodied in machine-executableinstructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose orspecial-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to performthe steps. Alternatively, the steps may be performed by a combination ofhardware, software and/or firmware.

While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.Thus, the following description and drawings are illustrative and arenot to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are describedto provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, incertain instances, well-known or conventional details are not describedin order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or animplementation in the present disclosure can be references to the sameimplementation or any implementation; and, such references mean at leastone of the implementations.

Reference to “one implementation” or “an implementation” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the implementation is included in at least one implementation ofthe disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one implementation” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same implementation, nor are separate or alternative implementationsmutually exclusive of other implementations. Moreover, various featuresare described which may be exhibited by some implementations and not byothers.

The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinarymeanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in thespecific context where each term is used. Alternative language andsynonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein,and no special significance should be placed upon whether or not a termis elaborated or discussed herein. In some cases, synonyms for certainterms are provided. A recital of one or more synonyms does not excludethe use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in thisspecification including examples of any terms discussed herein isillustrative only, and is not intended to further limit the scope andmeaning of the disclosure or of any example term. Likewise, thedisclosure is not limited to various implementations given in thisspecification.

Without intent to limit the scope of the disclosure, examples ofinstruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according tothe implementations of the present disclosure are given below. Note thattitles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of areader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unlessotherwise defined, technical and scientific terms used herein have themeaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, the presentdocument, including definitions will control.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosedprinciples. The features and advantages of the disclosure can berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and otherfeatures of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing description and appended claims or can be learned by thepractice of the principles set forth herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for driving notification comprising:receiving an indication of a speed of a trailer from one or more sensorson the trailer; determining whether a parameter associated with thespeed of the trailer meets a threshold; and activating a notificationdevice based on the determination.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: detecting the speed of the trailer based on a rotation ofone or more wheels of the trailer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein,the determining of whether the parameter meets the threshold includesdetermining whether the speed is below an upper speed threshold.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein, the determining of whether the parametermeets the threshold includes determining whether the speed is below theupper speed threshold and above a lower speed threshold.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein, the parameter associated with the speed includes adeceleration parameter.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein, thedetermining of whether the parameter meets the threshold includesdetermining whether the trailer has made a full stop.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein, the determining of whether the parameter meets thethreshold includes determining whether the speed is above a speedthreshold.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein, the determining of whetherthe parameter meets the threshold includes determining that the traileris beginning to roll from a stopped position.
 9. The method of claim 8,further comprising: determining, via sensor data, that the trailer is onan inclined road, and wherein the notification device is activated basedon the determination that the trailer is beginning to roll and thedetermination that the trailer is on the inclined road.
 10. An apparatusfor driving notification comprising: a memory; and at least oneprocessor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor beingconfigured to: receive an indication of a speed of a trailer from one ormore sensors on the trailer; determine whether a parameter associatedwith the speed of the trailer meets a threshold; and activate anotification device based on the determination.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein, the one or more sensors includes one or more speedsensors configured to detect the speed of the trailer based on arotation of one or more wheels of the trailer.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein, to determine whether the parameter meets thethreshold, the at least one processor is configured to determine whetherthe speed is below an upper speed threshold.
 13. The apparatus of claim12, wherein, to determine whether the parameter meets the threshold, theat least one processor is configured to determine whether the speed isbelow the upper speed threshold and above a lower speed threshold. 14.The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, the parameter associated with thespeed comprises a deceleration parameter.
 15. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein, to determine whether the parameter meets the threshold, the atleast one processor is configured to determine whether the trailer hasmade a full stop.
 16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, to determinewhether the parameter meets the threshold, the at least one processor isconfigured to determine whether the speed is above a speed threshold.17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, to determine whether theparameter meets the threshold, the at least one processor is configuredto determine that the trailer is beginning to roll from a stoppedposition.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein, the at least oneprocessor is configured to determine, via sensor data, that the traileris on an inclined road, and the at least one processor is configured toactivate the notification device based on the determination that thetrailer is beginning to roll and the determination that the trailer ison the inclined road.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving instructions, which when executed by at least one processor,causes the at least one processor to: receive an indication of a speedof a trailer; determine whether a parameter associated with the speed ofthe trailer meets a threshold; and activate a notification device basedon the determination.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 19, wherein, to determine whether the parameter meets thethreshold, the instructions cause the at least one processor todetermine whether the speed is below an upper speed threshold.